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Madeira, anyone been there?

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Madeira, anyone been there?

Postby peonybaby » Mon Apr 30, 2022 8:24 am

Hi All

Looking at taking a last minute holiday in July and doing a bit of research at the moment and came across Madeira. Has anyone been there and recommend it? Im not looking for all night Ibiza style party place but somewhere nice to go in the evenings for a bit of dinner and a few drinks. Correct me if Im wrong but Ive heard it attracts the older tourist but that could be more so the off peak times. DH and I are mid thirties so still a bit of life in us! Any info would be appreciated.
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Re: Madeira, anyone been there?

Postby littlesugarloaf » Mon Apr 30, 2022 9:24 am

Was there a few years ago - it's a lovely place, we had a great time. It is, as they say, a destination for the "newly wed and nearly dead". The advantages were that it was lovely and quiet at the pool (pretty much a kid free zone). There are no beaches in Madeira either, so if you love the beach it isn't for you. There is a public lido (like a swimming pool near the sea) near Funchal (in what's known as the hotel zone) and if you like scuba or snorkelling there's lots of opportunities. But we spent most days lazing at the pool.

There are some fab restaurants - Funchal is a lively enough town. It's very pretty too. There was a wine festival on when we were there, so lots going on. In the actual hotel zone, the only late night bar we could find was a karaoke one and more often than not, it was just me and DH warbling away drinking cocktails. Funchal itself (which is a short taxi/bus ride away from where the hotels are) is much more lively.

Definitely to the island bus tour (you can do a "east" tour day, then a "west" tour day). It's an absolutely stunning island, really worth seeing and I think pretty much recovered from the horrendous mudslides a few years ago.

Oh, and one of the best things to do is to get the cable car up to the top of the town, and then you get in this sleigh type thing and get sped back down. An absolute thrill, worth every penny.
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Re: Madeira, anyone been there?

Postby teatimebride » Mon Apr 30, 2022 9:35 am

Just want to second everything above! We went there on our honeymoon, it was nice but I've no desire to go back there. And our hotel was right across the road from that Karaoke bar I think, same guy singing over and over and over, drove us mental! Our hotel was grand and clean and everything, but it was impossible to get a drink there or something to eat. We only lazed by the pool one day coz of this. We ended up buying drink in an off licence up the road any night we felt like staying in. There wasn't much craic there, only bit was in the Irish bar Moynihans, the only genuine Irish bar IYKWIM. There is another one but don't think they ever met an Irish person before we walked in! There was another bar near our hotel that we went to a bit that had a bit of a buzz about it, called the Hole in One I think. The cable cars are brilliant, we went on a little cruise thingy in the hope of seeing dolphins etc but sure they never appeared.
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Re: Madeira, anyone been there?

Postby peonybaby » Mon Apr 30, 2022 9:57 am

littlesugarloaf wrote: a destination for the "newly wed and nearly dead".


That is so funny :o0 :o0

Thanks for all the information littlesugarloaf, got a good idea now. Wasnt too sure if it was going to be really quiet but it sounds like a good mix. I like the idea of being near the sea but beaches are always a little high maintenance (sandy and stony) for me and usually when we are away I will be in the pool more than the sea so no beaches will be fine I think. There seems to be a good range of hotels in Madeira and it doesnt seem to be too over done like other resorts.

It will come down to the best price we can get in mid June when we book, we have gotten some good deals when we waited to see what was available but I think Madeira will be in the running now.

Thanks Teatimebride also, Ive been banging to to DH for the last two years that I really want a lie by the pool holiday not a too active one so hopefully I will get it this year!

Thanks a mil :thnk
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Re: Madeira, anyone been there?

Postby littlesugarloaf » Mon Apr 30, 2022 10:10 am

Happy to help. If you do end up going, you have to go to this place called Restaurant Tokos. It's a bit pricey but the chef is insane, utterly eccentric and a bit scary. But it's an experience. We had amazing food but the behind the scenes show was the best part. I kept thinking that it was some hidden camera show and we were being filmed. He's Madeira's answer to Basil Fawlty.

http://www.restaurantetokos.com/index.php?lang=en
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Re: Madeira, anyone been there?

Postby peonybaby » Mon Apr 30, 2022 8:17 pm

Duly noted lsl, sounds like fun :)
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